Growing up in Minnesota, William Whitelaw said he knew just three words in American Sign Language.
“Please” and “thank you” are obvious ones, and he also knew the sign for “cookie” – after all, he was just a kid.
That’s likely three more words than the average youngster knows in ASL, but for Whitelaw, there was a wish to know more because his grandfather is deaf. So when the Blue Jackets 2023 third-round draft pick got to Shattuck St. Mary’s, the famed Minnesota school that has produced some of hockey’s best, he enrolled in a sign language course taught by Deb Kasper.
Kasper had a tie to the Whitelaw family – the deaf community is rather small, the forward notes – and Whitelaw threw himself into learning the language. His junior year at Shattuck, he even took an internship where he worked with kids at the Minnesota State Academy for the Deaf three times a week, but the biggest reward is being able to have a much closer connection to his grandfather.
“Being able to communicate with my grandpa is huge,” Whitelaw said. “I probably see him a couple times a month in Minnesota. He’s great; he’s the nicest guy. It definitely makes him pretty proud for sure.”
Whitelaw has gone as far as to teach his friends how to sign “Happy birthday” to his friends at home so they can deliver that message to his grandpa, and at the end of his internship, he delivered a presentation in ASL about his hockey experiences and his family ties to the deaf community to the youngsters he was working with.
In many ways, it was a humbling experience, and one that Whitelaw doesn’t take for granted.
“It makes you feel not very smart when the kids know sign language better than you do, but it was a really cool experience,” he said. “They were all really welcoming and nice.”
Whitelaw has done it all while developing on the ice, as well. After previous stops at Wisconsin and Michigan, the talented wing was one of college hockey’s top producers this past season at Western Michigan, tying for 18th in NCAA hockey with 19 goals and adding 15 assists for 34 points. The 5-9, 174-pounder had four two-goal games for the Broncos, who went 27-11-1 and made it to the final eight of the NCAA tournament before being eliminated by eventual champion Denver.
Whitelaw had been productive each of his first two college seasons, reaching double digits in goals both years, but he felt he found the right spot for him and rounded out his game in his first season in Kalamazoo.
“I don’t think I ever lost what I thought of myself as a player, but I think going to Western obviously really helped me a lot,” he said. “I think you have to put the work in because you’re playing at the same level, you’re playing the same competition, but what the coaching staff and my teammates provided to me was second to none. I couldn’t be more thankful.
“Honestly, just the self-belief from my teammates, my coaches and myself, I was put in the opportunities to be able to do what I can do, and I think I took advantage of it. Our whole coaching staff really believed in me, and I just wanted to prove them right and prove my teammates right every day.”
Whitelaw continued to fill up the net during last week’s Blue Jackets development camp presented by G&J Pepsi, consistently showing his offensive skills during the four days of drills and scoring twice in Thursday’s Stinger Cup game finale. His first goal showcased his nose for the net, as Whitelaw deflected a pass out of the defensive zone, chased down the puck at the offensive blue line, and was able to score on a backhand while fighting off a defender.
“He's rounded out his game,” Blue Jackets development coach Tommy Cross said. “He's always had speed, he's always had energy, but he's applying those two traits in a more direct way now. His usage and the trust that he's gotten from his coaching staff, he's earned (that) thanks to his battle level and his competing on pucks.
“I think he's really come to see the value in those things. A lot of times those things don't show up on the scoresheet, but winning pucks, being in the right spot, the details of his game, they've come a long way, as has his maturity just off the ice.”
Whitelaw has always been a scorer, including tallying 46 goals and 110 points in 55 games his final year at Shattuck St. Mary’s as well as 36 goals in 62 games in 2022-23 while winning a Clark Cup championship with Youngstown of the USHL. He’s also always had a feistiness to his game that has allowed him to succeed despite often being one of the smallest players on the ice at 5-9, 174 pounds.
But it’s that ability to thrive in all 200 feet of the ice and playing in all situations that will help him get to the next level. And with one college season to go, he hopes to keep adding to his game and potentially help the Broncos win another national championship to go with the 2025 trophy.
“I think if you asked (coaches) two years ago if I would be killing penalties, they’d laugh,” Whitelaw said. “Now it’s definitely a big part of my game. It’s something I really got better at throughout the year and helped me round out my game more than just scoring. It’s easier for me to make an impact every night. There’s still room to grow, but it’s a big step for me.”
